


Mingle

by ChildishSadism



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Abuse, Child Abuse, KH3 spoilers, M/M, cuz i mean, fic takes place after kh3, why not, yet another fic about how ventsu and vanitas get together after kh3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-12-27 04:06:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildishSadism/pseuds/ChildishSadism
Summary: "May your heart be your guiding key"It was the phrase almost every keyblade wielder knew by heart.It was also a phrase that reminded them of the connections they made through their travels, and how their hearts are always connected no matter where they go.Ventus wants to help bring Sora back, he was the one that kept him safe for so many years. He knows there is a way, but he's afraid that path leads to the darkness he refuses to accept. Vanitas has been missing since the keyblade war, but now he might be the key to finding Sora.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For all the anons that wanna see my version of how Ventus finds out about what Vanitas has gone through with Xehanort (based on the bbs novel), plus my own take on a fic after the events of kh3. I’m legit too lazy to screencap every single one of the requests cuz it was like a bunch, so I hope you enjoy! (I think I have a fic with this title already but fuck it)
> 
> Warnings: I mean…abuse? It has to do with Vanitas’ backstory after all.
> 
> This might spread into multiple chapters. It’s kinda just the beginning. 
> 
> Tumblr: https://demnocts.tumblr.com/ come to talk to me about venvan

May your heart be your guiding key.

It was the phrase everyone seemed to use lately. Ventus heard it many times before, and it was still the fundamental rule almost every keyblade wielder followed without question. Even when you were in the deepest of darkness, your heart was always connected with someone else’s. Your heart was made and build by the connections you had with other people, your friends, your family, your loved ones.

If you followed your heart, every step was never wasted.

Ventus sighed quietly and closed his eyes. He ignored the eyes watching him and instead summoned his keyblade.

“Ven, you don’t have to do this,”

Aqua’s voice was soft and filled with guilt. She knew the weight of her words and couldn’t hide it. She avoided looking around her, knowing what her words implied and how it could hurt the people she owed her life to. But she was afraid. She didn’t want to lose Ven again, not again. She couldn’t bear the idea alone.

“Don’t worry, I promise to be back!” Ventus smiled, his eyes glancing over at Riku and Kairi next.

Kairi gently placed her hand against her chest and tried to give Ventus an encouraging smile. “Please, be safe.”

“If anything bad happens, I promise to jump right in and help,” Riku added and glanced over at Aqua and Terra, giving them a firm nod. He wasn’t going to let anyone else be hurt.

Ventus grinned and pressed the handle of his keyblade against his chest. He was about to close his eyes when he felt a hand resting on his shoulder. He blinked and look up, meeting Terra’s worried but determined eyes.

“Remember, we are always with you. When the darkness feels like its too much, we’ll be there to guide your path back home. Just like you guys did when I was lost.”

Ventus couldn’t help himself but hug Terra. He nodded against his chest and smiled when Aqua joined the hug and gently ran her fingers through his hair.

“We’ll be with you, always.” Aqua added pressing her forehead against Ventus’.

“I know you will,” Ventus pulled away from the embrace and pressed the handle of his keyblade against his chest again.

He wasn’t alone. He was never alone.

Ventus closed his eyes and relaxed. His heart was the key, he just needed to find a path to follow. The noises around him slowly disappeared and his keyblade started to glow against his chest. He was floating, but his feet were still touching the ground. The room around him was disappearing. Everything was gone and then, he was falling.

Ventus’ eyes snapped open and he watched as his body stood there, but at the same time, he was falling. He was separating from his body and he was falling. The only light around him was coming from his own standing form but he couldn’t reach it anymore. He heard the wind whistling against his ears and he tried to turn as he kept falling through the darkness.

A glowing light was shining in the distance. He was falling towards it and he could recognize it from afar. The stained glass was something he could never forget or the shape of the circular room that had his face on it. The green color was soothing and warm. It was Ventus’ heart. He had seen it before, just like he had seen Sora’s heart.

Sora, he was the reason why he was doing this.

_“We have tried to pinpoint Sora’s location for quite some time now, but the power of awakening still has many mysteries we do not fully comprehend,” Yen Sid sat on his usual chair. A few old and heavy books were scattered across his desk. “I have tried to find out as much as I can, but I have reached a dead end.”_

_“You don’t know where else to look?” Riku asked with a frown and shook his head. “There has to be something we are missing!”_

_“Please, anything would help,” Kairi was standing next to Riku, her hands trembling on her sides. She just felt so powerless. “I can’t feel him, the connection between our hearts is still there, but I can’t reach him.”_

_“Yeah, I feel the same way,” Riku gently placed one of his hands on Kairi’s shoulder._

_“I know you’re both in pain. I know you want to find him, and that is why with the help of another guardian of light I think we have found an orthodox method that might work,” Yen Sid stood up and walked around his table. “You may come in.”_

_Riku and Kairi both stared in surprised when Ventus walked through the door. He smiled at the two and waved at them before stepping near Yen Sid’s desk._

_“Ventus here has an idea that just might work, but it’s a dangerous one that also might require extra help and the back up of a guardian with the power of wakening.” Yen Sid glanced over at Riku, giving him a pointed look. This meant that Riku had to agree with this in order for it to work._

_“If things go right, I might not need the extra help but it’s kind of a backup in case I sorta go too deep and can’t wake up,” Ventus chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. He would hate to have to depend on someone else to wake him up again, but there was no telling what could go wrong._

_“What’s the plan?” Kairi frowned. She desperately wanted Sora back, just as much as Riku but she also didn’t want to put anyone else in danger in order to get him back, especially when Aqua, Terra and Ventus were finally able to be together again._

_“Well, it came to me when I was remembering our battle with Vanitas,” Ventus’ brows furrowed at the memory. “Vanitas said that the three of us were connected, that together we made a greater whole. I didn’t understand his words at all, but he insisted that he was closer to us than anyone else, that he was our shadow. If what Vanitas said is true, then that means he’s with Sora right now, that puts him closer to him than any of us. That also means that I could maybe reach him and see where Sora is.”_

_Riku rubbed his lips together, his arms crossing over his chest as he closed his eyes deep in thoughts. “But if we can’t reach Sora, what makes you think that you can reach Vanitas?”_

_“Well, Vanitas isn’t just a connection, it isn’t just a link like the one you and Sora have. Vanitas is a part of me…well, was a part of me. He is a part of Sora as well if his words are true.”_

_Ventus replied was simple but it made perfect sense. Riku nodded slowly and looked at Ventus with a big smile on his face. “Alright, let’s do it.”_

_Ventus grinned in return and pointed at himself with confidence in his eyes. “Just leave it to me! Sora kept me safe for years, I’m going to help bring him back no matter what!”_

Ventus was still falling, he hadn’t slowed down at all. He panicked and got his keyblade out, trying to use magic to slow down his fall but nothing was working. The wind was still blowing against his face and hair, and the whistling in his ears was getting louder and louder. When was he going to stop falling?

Ventus’ eyes widened as the light shone brighter and he quickly covered his head with both of his arms. He braced himself for the fall but it never came. Ventus blinked a couple of times and slowly got up. There wasn’t stained glass underneath him, but black sand. He frowned, looking around him.

“Where am I? Is this…?”

It was the keyblade graveyard. After so many battles fought in this wasteland, it was impossible for Ventus to mistake it for anywhere else. Although it looked quite different. The red and orange sand was now black. The colors were muted and the dark night sky didn’t have any stars. The moon was shining bright but that was the only source of light. It looked so far away too, so small, almost as if it was unreachable.

The keyblade graveyard had never been interesting to look at, or really had much to bother to admire it, but it had been bright and the color of the earth was warm. Here, everything was cold. The mountains were made of glass, and they reflected Ventus’ moves everywhere he went. There were large chunks of land missing, and the only way to reach the other side was to jump.

Ventus kept walking, his keyblade still near his chest as he moved. He passed another mountain made out of glass and glanced at it before quickly turning his head again. From the corner of his eyes, he had seen Vanitas. He could have sworn he did. He rushed in the direction he saw him take and quickly jumped through another piece of missing land.

“Hey! Wait up! Where are you going?”

Ventus kept running, avoiding the hills that were collapsing and how some of the pieces of land sometimes crashed against one another. He was out of breath. With a heavy sigh, he stopped, ignoring how loud his breathing was. He was leaning one of his hands against the rock next to him and it was then that a familiar face caught his eyes again.

Vanitas was on the other side of the rock, panting and looking as tired as he did. He was sweating and bending just like Ventus. It wasn’t Ventus’ reflection anymore, not anymore.

A loud gasp left Ventus’ lips when his hand just went through the glass rock. He had been using the rock to support himself, resting his whole weight against it which made it easy for his whole body to go through the glass until he landed on the ground.

Ventus hissed quietly and stood up. He dusted the sand off of his clothes and took one step forward. The second he moved shadows were merging around him. Ventus’ eyes widened and his body moved faster than he could register what was happening. A keyblade was crashing against his own.

The shadows circled around him. Moving carefully and with arrogance. The keyblade in their hands was one that Ventus could recognize. It was Xehanort’s keyblade.

One of the shadows quickly launched at him and Ventus blocked the attack, but he missed the second shadow that moved and then kicked him on the side. Another shadow was next, aiming a kick on his jaw this time while another one gripped the back of his head and slammed his face against the ground.

How was he supposed to defend himself against so many? Ventus quickly rolled away from the next attack, his keyblade blocking another swing as he tried his hardest to avoid the punches and kicks that were aiming for his upper body. He jumped away, his knees trembling. Another shadow was behind him, his hand gripping the back of his head, holding him up in the air before using electric magic on his body.

Ventus screamed this time, his body convulsing right away as he fell on the floor. He was twitching, curling up on a ball before a strong kick landed on his stomach and flung him through the air.

“Get up.”

The voice came from every shadow, echoing loudly through the whole graveyard.

“Get up.”

The shadows said again, their voices all speaking in unison and distorting the familiar voice that was coming from them. There was no doubt in Ventus’ mind now, these shadows were Xehanort.

“We are not done here.”

Ventus found himself moving on his own. He forced himself to get up, even if his legs were shaking. He used his keyblade to support himself and took one weak step forward. His whole form was trembling but he was still getting on a battle stance. Except it was different than his own fighting style.

“Yes, master.”

Ventus’ voice wasn’t his own anymore either, and he glanced to the side just to have the reflection of Vanitas staring back. This wasn’t who he was. No, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

Ventus had little time to think about what was happening before the attacks started again. He was trying his hardest to avoid every strike, but every time he dodged one, another one would hit. He parried another attack and then a kick hit him square in the stomach. He gasped loudly for air, blood spitting out of his mouth. At the same time, another keyblade was hitting his side, sending him flying against rocks that shattered on his back with the impact.

Ventus winced at the glass cut through his back, his arms and his legs. He was in so much pain. Every muscle of his body was sore, but he was still forcing himself to get on his feet. Whatever was keeping him standing needed to stop. He wanted to collapse. He wanted to pass out. He wanted it to stop.

Ventus felt tears in his eyes. He was crying and his keyblade was at the verge of slipping out of his hands.

The shadows moved closer and closer, closing in on him from every direction.

“Tears will not help you. Crying will do nothing.”

Ventus choked on a quiet sob, but the tears kept flowing. His vision was getting blurry and panic was quickly building up inside of him. Yet, fear kept him grounded. The fear of moving and doing something wrong.

The shadows moved even closer until their faces were only inches away from Ventus.

“I’ll make sure those tears never fall again.”

Ventus’ blood turned cold. He heard his voice cracking and he could only whimper in response.

The shadows lifted their keyblades and without hesitation, the beating began again.

Ventus laid on his back, his eyes staring at the mood in the sky. He couldn’t move, his whole body was screaming at him to stay still. There was dry blood clinging to his mouth and nose but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. The graveyard was quiet, and the wind was gently blowing against his skin.

Why was he here?

What was his purpose at all?

Ventus frowned as these questions formed in his head. He was hurting, he was in pain. He was frustrated and angry. He was angry at the pain, and he was angry because of what happened to him. He was confused. He didn’t know what to do. The path that had been so bright before, that had been in front of him was gone.

He was lonely.

A small shadowed appeared near him then. The trembling thing crawled towards him, trying to get his attention. Ventus reached out for it, watching as the shadow moved around excitedly at his touch. It was cute, it should have been cute. It was the reason why Ventus couldn’t understand why he decided to crush it.

It was a weakness he didn’t want to see, but now the creature was gone and he was hurting more. The pain in his chest was a pulsating wound that wasn’t healing. The stinging was there as if his own heart was slowly being pierced by needles. Needles made out of glass that went along with his fragile existence.

Ventus heard steps near him, and he glanced back just to shudder in fear when the larger shadows appeared once again, their keyblades ready to strike.

No, he couldn’t take it again. Not again.

It happened so little ago. He didn’t want it again.

Ventus crawled on the ground and forced himself on his feet. He started running. He wanted to hide, he wanted to find somewhere else to go. He was hurting and there was nothing he could do about it. He was in pain and there was no one there to make him feel better. A warmth he once had was not there, a gentle hand stroking his hair was missing. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. It couldn’t be.

The images playing through his eyes as he ran weren’t any different from what he was going through. He could feel the pain, he was living it. He could feel the misery and despair. The putrid hatred that was bubbling up for those that didn’t feel as he did. It was suffocating him. All of these emotions were drowning him. He could feel the sand underneath his feet slipping away, and then he was falling.

He was so lonely. He was always so alone.

He was falling once again, the ground underneath him shattering. The memories kept flashing in his head as he fell and tears welled up in his eyes. The tears gently clung to his eyelashes before, floating in front of him as the wind whistled in his ears like before. He was falling even deeper. The moon was becoming smaller. It was slowly disappearing.

Ventus screamed, his throat burning up as he screamed as loud as he could. He was crying non-stop now, his hands desperately trying to reach for the light in front of him. He was swimming in air and his body was far too heavy to get him to float. The shadows were dragging him deeper into the darkness, their hands digging on his flesh and pulling on his hair.

A warm hand was then gently touching his cheek. He felt this touch before.

He felt this before when he sacrificed everything to save his friends. He shattered his own heart in order to save Aqua and Terra. He fought until his heart was almost no more, and then Sora helped him. He found him even after he almost slipped away and ceased to be.

Ventus stayed strong because he wasn’t alone. He was never alone! His friends were always there, the people that loved him always had his back, and the only reason why he made it back was that they were always there to illuminate his path. Their connections were stronger than any darkness. He was not going to let himself be dragged to slumber again.

Ventus’ keyblade appeared in his hand and a bright light surrounded him.

“I’m never alone, my friends are always with me, keeping me safe!”

Ventus pointed his keyblade towards the moon and he stopped falling, he was floating in mid-air but the moon was now moving towards him. It was going to quickly crash against him. Ventus blinked, his eyes widening when he noticed the familiar stained glass. The moon now had a green glow to it and he could see his face on it.

The moon had been his heart all along. The only light in that darkness.

A blinding light came next and it followed a series of images that Ventus had never seen before. He saw tall buildings and city lights.

Ventus’ eyes snapped open.

Aqua quickly moved back when Ventus body jolted awake and he sat up instantly. He was panting loudly, with sweat clinging to his forehead. He was disoriented, not knowing exactly what was happening but he couldn’t stop shaking. He looked around him, recognizing everyone’s faces but the sense of urgency and dread was still clinging to him.

Ventus tried to say something, anything but his voice was gone.

“Ven…” Kairi’s voice broke the silence, her eyes were wide and looking behind him. She shaky pointed behind Ventus, forcing everyone to look in the same direction.

Ventus glanced back, his half-lidded eyes having a hard time focusing. His left hand was missing. It was gone. But he could feel it, he could feel his hand. It wasn’t missing, it wasn’t gone, it was melting into his own shadow. It was as if his hand was underwater. It felt cold but he was holding something. He was holding someone, another hand.

Ventus pulled on his hand as hard as he could, his body leaning forward as he did so. He growled in frustration, his body feeling so weak but he couldn’t stop. He had to put his all on this. He yanked harder and felt when the hand he was gripping come along with him. Ventus glanced back in time to see Vanitas merging from within his shadow. Vanitas body was arching back, his head tilted. The darkness that clung to him looked like water droplets that were sliding down his skin before being consumed by his own body.

Ventus shadow looked like a puddle of the void and he was dragging Vanitas out of it. He pulled harder, his head suddenly filled with everything he had experienced there, everything he felt, everything he could still feel. It was something that was now clinging to his skin. He could feel the urge to scratch at his own arms to make it go away, but instead, he crawled on the floor, pulling Vanitas along with him until he was completely out of the puddle.

Ventus was on his hands and knees, panting loudly with sweat dripping down his nose. He was exhausted. For how long was he trapped there? It felt like an eternity to him. Ventus flinched and his eyes quickly glanced back just in time to see Vanitas’ lifting his body, his keyblade in his hand as he quickly aimed towards Ventus.

“Stopga!” Yen Sid’s voice rang in the room.

Vanitas’ whole body came to a stop and he stayed as he was, frozen in time with his keyblade only an inch away from Ventus’ face.

Ventus’ eyes didn’t look away. He stared at Vanitas’ face, void of all emotion, looking like a doll with no feelings. Yet, his body reacted on its own and attacked Ventus by instinct.

The whole room was in shock, no one knowing how to explain what just happened.

“I think…I think I know where Sora is,” Ventus finally broke the silence, his voice cracking before his eyes closed and he passed out.

He had no idea what he had done, but somehow, his heart was telling him he had done the right thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wat up, an update, cuz I actually got two days off this week.
> 
> Cheers to my freedom.
> 
> Anyhow have fun. 
> 
> Warnings: my shit English what else.

The taste of sand still lingered in his mouth. He was sore as if he had been fighting for hours. It was exhausting to just open his eyes but he needed to wake up. He had to wake up. Ventus let out a weak noise as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of times, the light around him was too bright and he quick to cover his face with one of his hands.   
  
“He’s awake!”   
  
A familiar voice shouted next to him and Ventus fought off the urge to cover his ears. Everything felt too alive. The world was moving around him, shaking, and then he could see darkness. He was back in that dark desert, with no one around him but himself and the shadows that kept attacking him. It was frightening to think that he was going back there, it was making him panic. Ventus could hear his breathing quickening and it didn’t stop until a warm hand touched his shoulder.  
  
“Ven.”  
  
Aqua's’ voice broke through the nightmare. Ventus blinked again and suddenly everything wasn’t as blurry anymore. He could see everyone around him, their concern obvious on their faces.   
  
“Ven, are you okay?” Aqua asked as she placed a hand on Ventus’ back and helped him sit up. He had been laying down on the floor with a blanket on top of him and a pillow underneath his head.   
  
Ventus shook his head, trying to snap out of the trance that still lingered in his head. He felt out of it. It was almost like he was waking up from a long dream, a longer one than the one he spent ten years in.   
  
“Don’t force yourself,” Terra’s voice came next. He was gently resting his hand on Ventus’ shoulder, a small smile on his lips. “We are glad to have you back.”  
  
“Yeah, you surprised us when you came back so quickly. But then you collapsed,” Riku was kneeling down on the floor, a frown on his face.   
  
“I came back quickly? It felt like an eternity,” Ventus frowned and then straightened his back when he remembered what happened. He looked around him, his eyes quickly searching for the figure he was sure he pulled out from within the shadows.  
  
“Vanitas isn’t here,” Riku always seemed to be able to read people too well.   
  
“Where is he?” Ventus asked, his brows furrowing together as he pulled the blanket off of him. He forced himself on his feet, his body weakly leaning back against the wall behind him.   
  
“Yen Sid used a time spell on him and it gave us enough time to take him to a more secured location in the tower. He hasn’t woken up,” Terra informed Ventus and let him lean against him instead of the wall.   
  
“Ven, what happened?” Aqua gently ran her fingers through Ventus’ hair, a concern look in her eyes. Ven looked so tired, so worn out. Not even after his ten-year-old slumber did he ever looked like this.   
  
“I...I reached my heart, my own heart. Then I went deeper, I could feel a connection that was hidden or maybe I just never noticed it. But it took me somewhere else, it looked like a nightmare. It was the keyblade graveyard but it didn’t look as it should. It was more like floating islands with black sand, everything looked so fragile, so ready to fall apart. Then these shadows kept attacking me, over and over again. I couldn’t run away until I found my heart again. Then I remember gripping something, I guess that was Vanitas,” Ventus frowned and rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand, everything was so hazy.   
  
“Wouldn’t that mean that you pushed through and reached Vanitas’ heart?” Riku was on his feet again, his hand stroking his chin and jaw as he tried to make sense of what Ventus was telling them.   
  
“I think so, I think that was Vanitas’ heart, like the vision of it,” Ventus nodded and closed his eyes before quickly opening them. It was as if every time he closed them he was back in that place and just the memory of it was enough for him to not want to approach it ever again.   
  
“The vision?” Aqua asked.  
  
“I think hearts can have their own worlds,” Riku answered and then a small smile spread over his lips. “When Sora’s heart fell into darkness, I reached his heart  with the power of waking and his heart looked like the Destiny Islands...actually, now that I think about it, I met Ven there.”   
  
“You did?” Ventus tilted his head and then smiled. “It was probably because I was still inside Sora’s heart.”   
  
“Yeah, I met you, Roxas and Xion, all three of you were safeguarding his heart,” Riku chuckled, the memory made a lot more sense now, back then he thought Ventus was just Roxas talking to him again, but as it turned out Sora was protecting more hearts than he even knew. It was just very much like Sora.   
  
The door opened then and Kairi walked in. She quickly smiled when she noticed that Ventus was awake and wasted no time to run towards him with a worried look on her face. “You are awake! I’m so glad. We were so worried.”   
  
“Sorry, didn’t think that the trip was going to wear me out that much,” Ventus chuckled and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.   
  
“But you are fine now, and that’s all that matters,” Kairi nodded, a smile taking over her lips again.   
  
“Were you able to contact them?” Riku asked and turned his attention towards Kairi.  
  
“Yeah! They should be here any minute now.”  
  
“Contact who?” Ventus asked in confusion.   
  
“We decided to ask for a little bit of extra help just in case, Roxas, Xion, and Axel are coming. Roxas actually sounded really pissed because we didn’t tell him about this, he said and I quote ‘Riku is so stupid for trying to do this without letting us know’ his exact words,” Kairi giggled, and hid her big grin behind her hand.   
  
“It wasn’t even my plan,” Riku sighed and rolled his eyes. “I was just here as the extra help.”  
  
“Seems like he’s going to try to find anything he can and blame it on you.”  
  
“What is he, 5?”   
  
“I mean, technically he’s maybe 2,”  
  
Riku and Kairi couldn’t help but smile at their own words before laughing and shaking their heads. They should have said something to the others, but it was just something that happened so quickly they didn’t even think about it. Plus, at the end of the day, it had been Ven’s plan and so they followed it as he saw it fit.   
  
“Where’s Yen Sid?” Ventus changed the subject and looked around the office.   
  
“He said he needed to talk to the king about this but he also said he needed to bring something else with him. I don’t know what he could be getting but it seemed to be important,” Riku said with a shrug.   
  
“But, while he’s gone I just have to ask,” Kairi took a step forward. “Were you able to figure it out? I mean, where Sora is?”  
  
Ventus sighed quietly and rubbed his eyes with his hand. “Yes, but no. Yes as in, I saw where he was. I could see the world around me, but no, because I don’t know how to get there. But I think that’s why I brought him back.”  
  
“By him, you mean Vanitas?” Aqua frowned not liking at all where this was going.  
  
“Yeah, I was able to see that world because of him, I think if I was to try again then maybe I could find my way there.”  
  
“Again? Ventus, look at you. You look exhausted, not even when Sora woke you up did you look like this, I can’t...I can’t let you go again.”  
  
“She’s right,” Terra added right away. “I don’t think it would be good for us to send you back there, this is obviously another type of darkness. You are going inside Vanitas’ heart, it is nothing but that, you have no experience with it.”   
  
“But I have to try!” Ventus huffed and stubbornly clenched his fists.   
  
“And I’m sure we can keep trying, but for now we have to figure out a plan B,” Aqua sighed quietly. She was so tired, it was in times like these when she could feel the wave of exhaustion finally dropping over her shoulders.   
  
“Kairi?”   
  
The trio turned their attention towards Riku after hearing the concern in his voice, their eyes following Riku’s line of sight. Kairi was quietly crying, her lips rubbing together as she wiped away the tears.   
  
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Kairi tried to smile but the tears wouldn’t stop. “We shouldn’t have made you do this, it’s dangerous, we could have lost you but...but I just, I just want to see him again. Please, I just want to know that he’s alright.”   
  
Sadness.  
  
Ventus rubbed his lips together, his eyes closing for a second. He hated not being able to help, it made him feel so useless but he wanted to do this. He wanted to find Sora just as much as everyone else.   
  
“I feel like it’s all my fault,” Kairi added, her eyes staring down at the floor.  
  
“Don’t say that,” Riku quickly replied to her words and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
“No, that’s just how it is. I-I should have been stronger. I promised to fight for him this time around. I promised to myself that this time I would be the one to save him! I...I didn’t want him to get hurt anymore. I don’t want him to get hurt anymore. It isn’t fair for this to happen to him, we don’t know where he is, we don’t know if he is alright, what if he’s all alone? What if he has no one with him?” Kairi was crying again, the tears rolling down her cheeks and then her chin. She couldn’t stop, she wanted to stop but she couldn’t. The sadness inside of her was spreading, it was taking over every sense in her body and the guilt. It was like a sword twisting inside her heart.  
  
Depression.  
  
“No, you’re not to blame for this. I should have done something as well. I should have been there with him, and with you,” Riku lowered his gaze, his lips pressing together on a thin line. He should have followed Sora, he should have been the one with Kairi as well. During that time everything was so hectic but he set his priorities wrong. It was his fault as well. He should have known better, he was a keyblade master, wasn’t he? If so then why did Sora had to be the one, if so then why didn’t he do something.  
  
Guilt.  
  
“You guys have done so much for us...I’m sorry,” Ventus sighed quietly, his body feeling so weak again. He felt just as helpless. He managed to do something, but the end result wasn’t what he expected at all. He didn’t think his journey was going to end after getting to Vanitas’ heart, he never even thought he was going to have to do that. He figured he was going to find a way through everything and reach Sora’s heart directly but that wasn’t how it went. It was in his state of panic and fear that he made the choice to run away. He left because he was afraid.  
  
The realization of why he failed, made him feel guiltier than ever. Not only that but it made him feel as if he couldn’t do anything to help anyone. Before it had been so easy, it was one battle and he made his choice. He made the decision to fracture his heart in order to defeat Vanitas and the x-blade but here, in the now, what was his purpose?  
  
Helpless.   
  
The group stood there, not knowing what to do next. Kairi was still quietly crying, and Riku was now holding her. Aqua was resting one of her arms around Ven’s shoulders and one of Terra’s hands was resting on his head. They hadn’t lost but they also weren’t sure how to move forward. It was a complicated situation and the worse of all was, that they didn’t know what all of these suffocating feelings were doing.   
  
Yen Sid’s tower was quite interesting. It was magical on its own and it wasn’t a big surprise when they found out one of the rooms was practically a cellblock. And in one of those rooms, Vanitas was laying down on the floor. He was twitching, his eyes moving underneath his closed lids until they snapped open.  
  
Vanitas took a deep breath, his body jerking awake as he quickly sat up. He looked around him with wide eyes, not knowing where he was or how he even got here. He could remember being asleep and then a hand holding his wrist but everything after that was nothing but a blur. He had been warm, a warmness that spread through his whole body before it was washed away by cold water.   
  
He had been resting, sleeping, and then someone took him away from that warmth. Someone that felt so familiar.  
  
Vanitas looked around him, his eyes narrowing once again as he stood up and his keyblade appeared in his hand.   
  
  
Ventus froze up, his words ending mid-sentence as everyone around him turned to stare at him. He could feel his heart beating in unison with someone else’s and then, he could feel something else. A light touch that wasn’t there before.   
  
“Vanitas, he’s awake!” Ventus’ eyes widened and he quickly pulled himself away from the wall before the tower shook.   
  
“What was that?” Aqua asked and summoned her keyblade.  
  
“It’s probably him,” Terra tsk’d and quickly ran towards the window.  
  
Riku followed after Terra and didn’t hesitate to jump out behind him. The two landed on the grass underneath them just in time to see smoke coming from the side of the tower. One section of the tower had been blown out. Riku looked around, trying to see what was happening before a masked figured jumped through the hole and darkness shrouded him.  
  
“There he is!” Riku yelled and pointed towards Vanitas’ direction.  
  
“He’s trying to get away! He can move in between the worlds just on his own!” Ventus was by the window, watching as Vanitas turned to face him. The two stared at each other and Ventus shook his head. ‘Don’t go’ the words never left his mouth but he still felt his lips moving. He winced when Vanitas turned around, ignoring his plea and instead a dark portal was summoned in front of him.  
  
“Oh no, you don’t!”   
  
A flash of light came from the edge of the world. A train they didn’t notice before was parked there and the flash of light was aiming towards Vanitas. Vanitas only had time to block as two keyblades crashed against his own.  
  
Angry blue eyes were glaring at Vanitas and pushing him away from the portal. Roxas narrowed his eyes and pulled one of his keyblades back to aim another strike at Vanitas. Vanitas only response was to teleport away from his reach and then appear right above him, but Roxas was just as fast and he was quickly moving around him again. The two were a match on speed and their strikes were no different. Vanitas hissed underneath his helmet and he glanced around him, his body moving on its own as he quickly took aim with one of his spells towards Ventus and Kairi. He did the same in different directions and then a horde of unversed appeared underneath them.   
  
Vanitas grinned as Roxas stopped his attacks, looking around him and giving Vanitas enough of a chance to push him back before melting into the shadows as another portal was summoned near the train. He quickly ran towards it, his body jumped over the attacks as he melted into the shadows again and reappeared just for a flash of light to quickly strike him again.   
  
Vanitas gritted his teeth when the force of the blow sent him flying on the ground face first. He rolled on the ground and crashed against the train before two keyblades closed in around his throat. They weren’t hurting him yet, but they were ready to do so if needed, that was pretty much obvious.   
  
Vanitas twitched as he felt his mask cracking and then finally large chunks started to fall apart. It shattered and he was amused by the surprised look in Roxas’ eyes.   
  
“I attacked your friends and you left them to die, what kind of person are you?” Vanitas chuckled his head tilting.   
  
“A friend that can trust his own friends to take care of themselves, and it worked, didn’t it?” Roxas tried to hide his shock but it was impossible. He couldn’t look away from Vanitas’ face and for obvious reasons. He had never met him before, at least not face to face and now that he had. He could feel his gut twisting. He looked just like Sora, but seeing Sora’s face looking so hateful, so mocking. It didn’t feel right.   
  
Ventus was the first one to reach the two. He was standing next to Roxas, a frown on his lips. Vanitas was now glaring at him and avoiding looking in his direction. Ventus only sighed in return and gave Roxas a weak smile. “You got here just in time.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I would have been here the whole time if you guys bothered to tell me about this,” Roxas answered bitterly.  
  
“Relax,” Axel stepped in and gave Roxas’ back a firm smack. “They are doing what they can to help, just like us. Don’t get all hurt just because they didn’t tell you abou-woah why does he look like Sora?”   
  
“It’s a long story,” Ventus said with a chuckle.  
  
“Another headache you mean? Now we have another one. Why does Vanitas look like Sora? Or is it Sora that looks like Vanitas?” Axel sighed loudly and threw his hands in the air. Why couldn’t things just be simple?   
  
“I think is best if I explain this when we are inside, all of us,” Ventus said the last part while looking at Vanitas, not at all ignoring how he was still avoiding looking at him.  
  


* * *

  
  
Vanitas sat on the floor, the golden chains around him were made of light itself and the complete opposite of the black chains he had seen before. It was no surprise to him at all that Terra was now able to use a spell like this, but it was still frustrating that they were now being used against him. The same chains that at some point, no, he was getting sidetracked. Everyone was looking at him and it was annoying him.  
  
“So, you need my help?” Vanitas raised one of his brows, a mocking smile hanging from his lips.   
  
“If you want to ignore everything I just said and put it in a simple way, then yeah,” Ventus mumbled the last part and glanced away.  
  
“Ah, well, I remember a time when I asked you to join with me and your response was to shatter our hearts and pretty much almost killed us.”   
  
“Vanitas, you were asking me to give up who I was and become one with you, you weren’t even asking to actually join together. On top of that, you kept trying to hurt my friends! You can’t compare the two situations at all,” Ventus hissed in frustration and narrowed his eyes. Was Vanitas really going to try to bring in something like that now?   
  
“I don’t see how it is any different. I was trying to save myself, and now you are trying to save Sora, right? And you need me to do it, it sounds like a very similar situation.”  
  
“You know you are just lying and it isn’t the same at all,” Ventus leaned in closer, kneeling down in front of Vanitas to be eye to eye with him. “We are trying to save him and that’s it, not trying to destroy you in the process like you were trying to do to me. Xehanort lied about the x-blade anyways, it didn’t work. He was playing us, all of us.”  
  
“Xehanort was the only one that was there when NO ONE else was!” Vanitas glared back at Ventus, his body leaning in as well as he growled. “Where were you when I was lost? Where were you when I had no idea where I was? Oh, right, you were with your friends. You were enjoying your time with them, as you said before, at least you got some, right?”  
  
Ventus huffed when his words were used against him and he shook his head. “You’re making it sound like it was my fault! I didn’t ask for any of this!”  
  
“AND NEITHER DID I!” Vanitas shouted back right away. “But I was served this hand and I played it! And at least Xehanort was there to take me as I was, instead of looking at me with the disgusting pity I see in their eyes!” He motioned towards the rest of the group and waited for Ventus to look at them.  
  
“He was there, he gave me a purpose,” Vanitas continued. “I had a reason for being thanks to him and you, you were enjoying your painless life with your little friends. Do you think I wouldn’t do it again? I would do it as many times as it takes just to see the pain on that stupid face of yours that you shouldn’t even own.”  
  
Ventus flinched at Vanitas’ words, a frown quickly taking over his face. “He was using you, he used all of us. That’s all he ever did. He only reached out to people if he wanted to use them. He used Terra, he used me and he used you...Vanitas, I saw wha-”   
  
Ventus didn’t get to finish before Vanitas started laughing. He was shaking his head, laughing and looking at Ventus with an amused look in his eyes. “Really? Then tell me, what exactly are you doing right now? Didn’t you drag me back just to help you? You never would have even bothered to look for me if it wasn’t because you needed me this time, I guess the tables have turned now, uh? So tell me, Ventus...How are you any different from him?”   
  
Ventus opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.   
  
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Vanitas’ tone was vicious and Ventus, he had no idea what to say anymore. Even when all eyes shifted in his direction, he couldn’t say anything. None of them could.   
  
How was he different from Xehanort? When what Vanitas was saying sounded too real.   
  


 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> excuse me, excuse me, sorry, I'm just trying to pick up my soroku and soriku feelings off this floor, thank you, thank you. 
> 
> I legit couldn't keep myself from writing this chapter, I guess I'm going to bed late tonight lmao
> 
> Thank you all for the awesome comments <3 it seriously means a lot that you guys are enjoying this story! It hypes me up and keeps me motivated! It's always awesome to hear what you guys think of the story cuz idk, that's really why I like to write fanfiction, it just hypes me up and makes me giggly. I seriously wish I could reply to all of you guys but work is a pain in the ass and gives me little free time. But thank you sooo much <3 
> 
> Warnings: my shit English.

The stars in Yen Sid’s tower always looked brighter than in any other world. The sea of stars expanded all across the sky and it was hard to find a spot that wasn’t shining with light. It was the most beautiful sky Ventus had ever seen before. There was no morning, no twilight, just an endless night that was as bright as the morning itself. It was a special night, it was warm and it made him smile. He promised to show these stars to Terra with Aqua and once they did, it felt as if the three were finally together, never to be apart again.  
  
“Shouldn’t you be inside?”  
  
Ventus glanced back and gave Roxas a weak smile. He sighed quietly, his eye lowering for a couple of seconds before he glanced back at the sky. He didn’t want to go back there, he knew he had to, he knew he was running away from his issues but he was mad. He was upset and he wanted to walk away before he said something he’ll regret later.  
  
“I’m just taking a small break,” Ventus answered and watched as Roxas sat next to him. He was looking at the stars as well, and Ventus couldn’t help himself but stare. It was something that he just couldn’t help but do. He couldn’t get over how Roxas looked exactly like him and yet, he looked so different.  
  
“You’re staring again,” Roxas said with a chuckle.  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“Don’t be, I do that sometimes too. It’s just, weird, y’know?”  
  
“Yeah, it never gets old.”  
  
“I wonder if he would have done the exact same thing, he probably would have.”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Sora,” Roxas turned to face Ventus with a smile. “I’m pretty sure he’ll do the same with Vanitas, maybe even act more out of impulse than us.”  
  
Ventus smiled with a small nod. “Yeah, I think is something he would do but I don’t think that would be such a great idea with Vanitas.”  
  
“He’s a handful uh?” Roxas leaned his arms back against the steps and he tilted his head back to stare at the sky. “I can’t blame him though.”  
  
Ventus frowned at Roxas’ words and he glanced back at him. He furrowed his brows, giving him a confused look. “What do you mean? What is there to get? He’s evil, he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

  
“Yeah,” Roxas kept staring at the sky, his eyes looking distant as he rubbed his lips together. “He’s angry at the world, angry for being born as he was, angry for not knowing what to do. Angry for not being the one to persist.”  
  
Ventus tilted his head as Roxas glanced at him with a smirk on his lips. He wasn’t sure what Roxas was getting at, but his words sounded too sure, almost if he wasn’t talking about Vanitas at all but someone else. Ventus turned to face Roxas better, his eyes not looking away from him as Roxas tilted his head back and sighed loudly.  
  
“You know, when I first came to be, the very first person I met was Xemnas. Xehanort’s nobody. I woke up with no memories, no knowledge of who I was, not even a name. He was the one that gave me one, and he was the one that took me in, as a nobody.”  
  
Ventus glanced away, his eyes looking into the distance as he listened to what Roxas was saying. He never truly heard much of his story, he knew a few things from talking to Riku and Kairi but he never truly dared to ask what exactly happened. Who was Roxas? All he knew was that he was Sora’s nobody but he looked like Ventus. Riku avoided all questions and kept telling him to just ask Roxas himself as if Riku couldn’t tell his story, almost as if he wasn’t allowed to do so.  
  
“He told me I was a nobody, and so I didn’t have a heart, I was just no one. He took me to the organization as the thirteen member. And I did what they told me to do. I didn’t know anything about who I was, I didn’t even know how I came to be. There was no one around me to tell me something, anything to make me feel better until I met Axel, and then Xion,” Roxas leaned his head against his shoulder, a small smile spreading over his lips. “If it wasn’t because of them, I probably would have ended up doing whatever Xemnas wanted me to do, whatever it was evil or good. I was already following his orders, doing whatever he asked and following his missions. Like a puppet. I began to question him and his motives but I only did it because I had someone there with me. When Axel was gone Xion was there for me, when Xion was gone, Axel was there. I was never truly alone...until I was. Then I realized how everything I was doing was so pointless and stupid without them. I was who I was because of them, I learned how to be whole because of them.”  
  
“They are your important friends,” Ventus added with a knowing smile. That’s exactly how he felt about Aqua and Terra. They were the ones that helped him when he was still broken, they cared for him and helped him become who he was now.  
  
“Yeah, But if they hadn’t been there, it would have been a different story and yet, even though our bonds were so strong, Xemnas was still playing games with us, he was still manipulating us and using us. Xion was the first one to go. She spoke about Sora, and I hated it. Who she was became someone else, someone’s face that wasn’t hers. She was the first one to join with Sora and I was left on my own. Xemnas fractured our friendship behind the scenes, and Axel wasn’t enough to hold me back. In my mind, no one was going to miss me, because I was nobody. Because that’s what I was led to believe, and yet my tears, my emotions, everything was real, but because of Xemnas I ignored all of it and kept moving while still having his words digging through my brain.”  
  
Ventus nodded slowly and pulled his legs close to his chest as he leaned his face against them. Roxas’ actions made complete sense, even Xehanort’s nobody knew how to manipulate people too well. All of those lies and schemes were made ahead of time just to get them all together, just so they could all fight and create the key for kingdom hearts. It was a plan that had been on the making for years, sometimes Ventus wondered if it was even over. If it was truly over and Xehanort wasn’t somewhere out there still toying with them and watching them move while strings were tied to their limbs.  
  
“I hated Sora.”  
  
Ventus’ attention quickly turned back to Roxas at those words. He stared at him with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open before he closed it. “W-what?”  
  
“I hated him, everything that went wrong in my life was because of him. I lost Xion so Sora could be whole. I lost myself so Sora could be whole. Everything always revolved around him, Sora this, Sora that, Sora could do this, Sora could do that. I heard his name so many times and yet I didn’t know who Sora was. But hearing his name just made me angry, it pissed me off. I didn’t know I was Sora’s nobody. I didn’t know my heart was his and his was mines.”  
  
“But you’re trying to help bring him back, y-you don’t hate him,” Ventus shook his head, his eyes closing as he tried to make sense of what Roxas was saying.”  
  
“I mean, I don’t hate him anymore, but being Sora’s nobody brought me a lot of pain. I was technically what they called his darkness, but I don’t know if that’s true. I went through what I had to go through just because of the fact that I was a connection to Sora, the cause of it all, the one that came wielding a keyblade after they all disappeared. I also went through all of it, because Sora had amazing friends,” Roxas snickered quietly and shook his head. He sighed loudly and sat up on the steps again, his eyes trying to meet Ventus’ own even if he knew he was trying to avoid looking at him.  
  
“I’m sure you know by now that I’m not fond of Riku, but I have my reasons. Riku might be Sora’s best friend and one of the people he loves the most in the whole world, but for me, Riku was the one that took Xion from me, and he was the one that took me and with the help of Ansem forcefully made me join back with Sora. I was angry, I was furious, I felt nothing but rage and hate. But that was also when I first met Sora. It was the very first time I ever saw him and somehow, someway, I didn’t know why, but I knew everything was going to be okay as long as I was with him. I felt at peace, my heart felt whole, and that rage melted away,” Roxas smiled and gently placed one of his hands over his chest. The memory of that encounter was still fresh in his mind, he could never forget the peaceful feeling that came after.  
  
“Riku...he did all of that?” Ventus glanced over at Roxas, it made no sense. Riku? The same Riku that was willing to risk his life to help him, the one that was always so calm and smiled at them with warmth. It couldn’t be. There was just no way but why would Roxas lie to him? It had to be the truth and yet, it was so hard to understand. It was too complicated and it made everything feel less simple than what he first thought.  
  
Roxas’ words were honest, he spoke of everything as if it happened just yesterday and the way he described being one with Sora, also brought Ventus a small memory of his past. He could remember a soft hand touching his cheek and a smile that belonged to the darkness he so desperately wished to deny. Vanitas’ touch had been tender then, his eyes bright and his smile so full of happiness. He looked completely different, his voice was gentle and he welcomed him home and Ventus could remember welcoming him back.

 _“We’ll never be apart again.”_  
  
Those words, was it Ventus that said it or was it Vanitas? He honestly couldn’t remember, maybe it had been the two of them.  
  
“Yeah, Riku did all of that, all of it just to bring Sora back, just like I’m sure he’ll be willing to do anything right now to bring him back again. Sora is his most precious person in the whole world, even if he himself cannot admit it. He did what he did because for him it was justified. He also didn’t know the whole truth about us nobodies, about how we actually have hearts, how we slowly become our own person. He figured he was just putting a puzzle back together, at least that’s my guess. But Sora, Sora isn’t Riku, and even though he didn’t know me, or who I was, he couldn’t completely absorb my heart. He saw me as my own person since the very beginning, and I still hated him, then we fought and he won. He won and I realized that it was fine like this, it had to be Sora, it was always him. Still, Sora didn’t like that,” Roxas laughed quietly and shook his head, a big smile on his face. “He didn’t like it one bit and promised to bring me back no matter what. And he did, he brought me back and now I’m here.”  
  
Ventus grinned and gave Roxas a firm nod. “Yeah, Sora is just that kind of person.”  
  
“He is, but that’s not really why I’m telling you all of this. Every story has a beginning, and for every story, there’s a hero. We all want to be that hero. We all want to be the most important. We all want our needs to come first. Because we are the most important person we have,” Roxas lightly nudged Ventus’ foot with his own, his eyes meeting his as he leaned in a bit closer. “You are never truly the bad guy in your own head when all you are trying to do is stop the hurt.”  
  
Ventus rubbed his lips together and looked away from Roxas to stare back at the night sky. He knew what Roxas was saying, he understood why he told him all of this and why it was important for Ventus to hear his story. He wanted so hard to just deny everything and dismiss Roxas’ words but he just couldn’t. It was a reality he couldn’t deny, even less now that he still could close his eyes and see that world. He could still hear Xehanort’s voice echoing inside his head and he could still feel his keyblade striking him down until he couldn’t move. The words that were said to him were despicable. The way they twisted his thoughts and corrupted his feelings made him want to vomit but he couldn’t. The worst of it all was the fact that he was all alone. He had felt so alone.  
  
“When I dived inside my heart and reached Vanitas, I saw...things. I’m guessing they were memories, but they kept replaying over and over again. It was like a cycle that I couldn’t break. It was engraved on me, I felt it, I couldn’t run, I could hardly stand on my own. I was hurting so bad and I couldn’t even cry,” Ventus stared at his hands, the feeling of helplessness was still there, lingering on his skin. “The only reason why I was able to break through it was that I remembered Aqua and Terra, I felt their hearts connected to mines and I was able to break free.”  
  
“You’re lucky then, uh? At least you got some friends that are there to help you break through it,” Roxas said with a knowing smirk. “It wouldn’t have been the same if you were all on your own, uh?”  
  
Ventus lowered his eyes. “No, it wouldn’t have been at all.”  
  
“Glad we agree on that, and I think this could help you out.”  
  
“Help me with what?”  
  
“To see that things aren’t as black and white as they seem.”  
  
Ventus sighed quietly and nodded, he was still not completely sure about Vanitas, and Roxas hadn’t changed his mind at all, but he was at least understanding Roxas’ point of view. His story was helping him think things through, and it was also helping him see things in a new light. It was difficult and different, but a change wasn’t always all that bad. He was raised as a keyblade wielder to always push away the darkness and keep it away, and yet there were people like Roxas and Riku, that blended in so well in between the two. What exactly was the truth then? Maybe his master’s teachings were somewhat outdated.  
  
“Anyways, I was actually supposed to drag you back inside,” Roxas stood up and fixed his coat before shrugging. “Yen Sid is back and he wants to talk to all of us.”  
  
“Oh! He’s back? Oh no, I have been keeping him waiting!” Ventus quickly jumped on his feet rushed back inside the tower, followed by a very amused Roxas.  
  
Roxas glanced back at the night sky one last time, a small smile on his lips. Being Sora’s nobody had brought him a lot of pain, but it was what made him who he was and now it was the reason why he was standing on his own. He could now understand why Riku had done so much to get Sora back, it was because, in the end, Sora was worth that much and more.

* * *

  
  
 Ventus opened the door for Yen Sid’s office and gave everyone an apologetical smile. He walked in and stood next to Terra and Aqua, while Roxas took his usual spot by Axel and Xion. It didn’t look like he interrupted anything important, so hopefully, he didn’t make them wait too long. Aqua was giving him a pleasant smile and her hand was already gently touching his shoulder. Ventus wasn’t sure why, but Aqua’s touch always put him at ease right away, maybe it was a spell or just the gentleness that just came from her.  
  
“Now that everyone is here, I think it is time to discuss our next course of actions,” Yen Sid nodded and then motioned towards Vanitas with one of his hands. “Vanitas has agreed to help on one condition.”  
  
Vanitas was still chained up by Terra’s spell but he was now standing and leaning back against the wall behind him. He was avoiding looking at anyone but Ventus didn’t miss the quick glance he threw his way.  
  
“The condition is to set him free once we find Sora or a path that leads to him,” Yen Sid continued.  
  
Aqua quickly took a step forward and shook her head. She was glaring on Vanitas’ direction, her eyes narrowed. “With all due respect, I don’t think we should bargaining with him. How can we be sure he won’t just run away the moment he has a chance, or worse, what if he attacks us again, or goes after Ven? I can’t let him roam freely, he’s dangerous. He’s a danger to Ven or anyone in any world.”  
  
“Then I guess you won’t find your friend, won’t you master,” Vanitas said right after Aqua was done talking and returned the glare with full force.  
  
Aqua’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You won’t hurt him again, I won’t let you.”  
  
“Settle down, please,” Yen Sid looked in between Aqua and Vanitas before waving his hand in front of his desk, the moment he was done a pair of golden bracelets appeared out of thin hair. The thick bracelets were beautifully carved and had a large heart engraved on the middle. “This is one of the trinkets I picked up just in case we needed to keep a close eye on Vanitas. These bracelets cannot be separated, if one wanders too far the other one will pull them back. They also will not allow the wearers to harm one another. Whoever is to accompany Vanitas in this quest, will be the one wearing one of them.”  
  
“I’ll do it,” Aqua volunteered right away.  
  
“Or I will,” Terra said right after away and glanced at her with a gentle smile.  
  
Ventus frowned and placed one of his hands over his heart. He could feel it aching, he could feel something pulling him towards Vanitas. He wanted to look at him, to see what kind of expression he was making over the idea of Aqua or Terra being the ones to go in this mission with him, but he couldn’t, instead, he looked over at Roxas. Roxas stared back at him and without Ventus having to say anything, Roxas gave him a firm nod and motioned towards the bracelets with his head.  
  
“I’ll do it,” Ventus looked up and took a step forward.  
  
“Ven!” Terra frowned and shook his head.  
  
“Ven, this is dangerous. He will try to hurt you,” Aqua tried to pull Ventus back but he stood where he was, a determined look on his face.  
  
“I can do this. Plus, he won’t be able to hurt me because of the bracelets. I feel like this is something I should be doing, it’s my quest,” Ventus nodded and walked towards Yen Sid’s desk. He stood in front of him, his confidence not wavering even as he picked up the bracelet and then closed it around his wrist.  
  
“About time you did something on your own instead of hiding behind those two,” Vanitas chuckled and walked forward to stand next to Ventus. He was smirking at him, a condescending look in his eyes as he offered his wrist to Ventus.  
  
Ventus picked up the second bracelet and he stared at it for a couple of seconds before guiding his hand to closing it around Vanitas’ wrist. In an instant a bright light surrounded the room, forcing Ventus to close his eyes. The light was bright but cold, it made no sense and yet it was there. The light disappeared and Ventus was able to open his eyes again. The bracelets were now see through, looking like glass around their wrists. They looked enchanting and beautiful, yet they gave Ventus an eerie feeling as well.  
  
“You can break your spell now, Terra,” Yen Sid turned his attention towards Terra and gave him a confident nod.  
  
Terra looked hesitant. He was glancing at Vanitas with caution and it was clear as day that he didn’t want to set him free, yet he trusted Yen Sid. He sighed and then with a wave of his hand the chains shattered, setting a grinning Vanitas free. This didn’t feel right, Terra didn’t like it one bit.  
  
It happened so fast that Ventus wasn’t even sure if what was going on was real. His eyes could follow the movements but it was as if his brain couldn’t comprehend anything. Ventus’ eyes widened as Vanitas summoned his keyblade and without hesitation used it to cut off the hand that had the bracelet. There was no blood, no gore, just a black liquid dripping down and then black fog surrounding the wound.  
  
No one was able to react, everyone was frozen in place. Vanitas was grinning and his keyblade was still in his hand and not a second later he was pushing Ventus on the floor, his keyblade ready to strike as it aimed for Ventus’ neck but the strike never came. Ventus opened his eyes, not realizing that he closed them. Vanitas’ keyblade was only an inch away from his face but he wasn’t able to touch him.  
  
Vanitas’ body was trembling, he was panting and sweating, his right eye twitching as he tried his hardest to try to push his keyblade against Ventus’ neck but it was no use. He felt as if he was suffocating, his whole form was rigid and his grip in his keyblade was loosening until it was falling on the floor.  
  
Ventus was able to see it then, the bracelet that had been on Vanitas’ wrist was now a collar around his neck. It had taken a different shape and it had never left Vanitas’ body even after he cut off his own hand. Ventus watched as Vanitas hissed and pulled on the collar, his teeth showing as he growled and glared at everything around him.  
  
It was Ventus turn to smirk. He lifted his upper body with his arms, a smug look on his face as he watched Vanitas struggle. “Seems like you are stuck with me now.”  
  
Ventus only grinned when Vanitas response was a glare.

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was legit hard to write idk why
> 
> Warnings: my shit english

“What do you mean by you don’t know where he is?”  
  
Ventus voice was frustrated and annoyed. He was standing next to Aqua, ignoring how she had her keyblade ready to attack if Vanitas tried anything as he did earlier. It wasn’t as if Vanitas’ attacks could actually hurt Ventus, but Aqua was not about to try to gamble and let it happen again. Terra was in a similar position but he just didn’t look as stressed as Aqua did. He was worried and concerned but something was telling him that things weren’t going to get out of hand, not this time at least.  
  
“I know we are not deaf, so, exactly what I just said,” Vanitas replied and shrugged. “I don’t even know who this Sora is.”  
  
“What do you mean you don’t know? You agreed to help us find him! Why would you agree if you didn’t know?”  
  
“Oh, maybe because I suddenly woke up in a room I didn’t know and the only way of me having a chance of escaping was cut off by someone that looks exactly just like you! Who I have no idea who he is, and then I was chained up and told that I could help find Sora and so I said yes, to try to get a chance at running away but as it turns out, these stupid bracelets are the real deal,” Vanitas narrowed his eyes and stared down at his hand. It was still regenerating and it looked like black bones with only some flesh attached to it but the fog moving through his hand was working fast and healing him. For now, his wrist was back and the bracelet moved from being a collar around his neck to being a regular bracelet around his wrist.  
  
Ventus rubbed his lips together in frustration and then ran his fingers through his hair before sighing loudly. “So bringing you back was a waste, got it.”  
  
“Sorry to be such a disappointment and not being the key to help bring the person you truly want back,” Vanitas rolled his eyes slid down the wall behind him to sit down with one of his legs pulled towards his chest.  
  
“You said you were connected to him, you said you were part of him just as you were a part of me!” Ventus took a step forward, not at all caring that Aqua was trying to pull him back. He stood in front of Vanitas, his eyes narrowing. “You said all of that for what? To play us one last time?”  
  
“Ventus, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know who Sora is, I don’t know who they are. I haven’t spoken to you since the last time we fought when you fractured our heart.” Vanitas glared back, his body tensing up as he could feel something twitching inside of him, his emotions were under control but having Ventus being this close also brought in an extra weight that he couldn’t fully control. Ventus emotions were just pouring on him like a heavy storm and Vanitas was not used to this.  
  
Unlike Ventus, Vanitas connection to him was very different and special. Ventus couldn’t feel what Vanitas felt, and he couldn’t see what he saw, but Vanitas, he could do both. He could clearly see everything and feel everything, whatever he wanted to or not, it was just part of his construction and another side-effect of their separation.  
  
“I’m positive he isn’t lying,” Yen Sid interrupted and raised one of his hands to stop Ventus from saying anything before he had the chance to continue. “As you know, some of the thirteen darkness were hearts that traveled from the past to the future. If the Vanitas we faced was indeed from the past, then the Vanitas in front of us will have no memory of what happened. It would explain why he cannot recall what you are telling him, Ventus. It would also explain why he doesn’t know who Sora is.”  
  
“Right, the rules we were told said that once the hearts go back to their time, they would have no memory of what happened,” Riku added and gently rubbed his jaw, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to still make this plan work. It was the last shot they had.  
  
“Would that mean the Vanitas we fought was telling the truth?” Ventus frowned, his eyes glancing over at Vanitas before he looked back at Yen Sid.  
  
“Precisely, the Vanitas we fought knew something the present Vanitas doesn’t, and that is probably the key to finding a path that leads to Sora,” Yen Sid answered with a nod of his head.  
  
“So that means it’s your turn to do what’s needed,” Ventus turned his attention back to Vanitas.  
  
“Do what? What exactly are you talking about?” Vanitas leaned his face against his hand, his eyes looking bored and uninterested. “I honestly don’t care about what you guys got going on. I said I agreed to help just to get a second chance at getting out of here or at least get a chance to hurt you before they tried to put an end to me. As far as I’m concerned this has nothing to do with me.”  
  
“Sora was willing to give you a second chance, he wasn’t even going to let you go and vanish just because of what you said you were,” Ventus took another step forward. He was getting frustrated, they were getting nowhere and Vanitas was not helping at all.  
  
“And what exactly did I say I was?”  
  
“Darkness.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I am, that’s what I have always been, that’s how I was born,” Vanitas stood up and move forward to stand in front of Ventus with a mocking smile on his lips. “I’m the darkness you can’t admit you own.”  
  
“But you said you were part of Sora’s darkness as well.”  
  
“Ventus, that’s just not possible. I was created when Xehanort separated our hearts, he did this to us, just us. He is the reason why I am standing in front of you, I don’t know who Sora is, but I can tell you right now that I can’t be his darkness.”  
  
“And why not?”  
  
“Because if I was his darkness, I would feel everything he feels. I would see what he sees. I would feel all of his emotions and I would know exactly where he is even if I myself don’t know where that place is,” Vanitas shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
Ventus tilted his head, his eyebrows furrowing together as he tried to make sense of what Vanitas was saying. It made him realize that he truly had no idea what it meant for Vanitas to be his darkness. Ventus had never felt a need to find Vanitas, not like the need Vanitas had always shown. In fact he never really knew he existed until he made himself visible, but if the tables had been turned and from what Vanitas was saying then things would have been very different.  
  
“Wait, so what you are saying is that you feel everything I feel? You see what I see?” Ventus glanced back at Aqua and Terra, trying to make sense of what Vanitas was saying but the two look just as confused.  
  
“I mean, obviously, how else do you think I knew how to get you out of The Land of Departure? I knew exactly what threads to pull,” Vanitas smirked and glanced at Terra for a second before looking back at Ventus. “Didn’t I say you never stood a chance against us when we fought? There was a reason for it, I knew exactly how to make everything happen, and I knew exactly how every single one of you was going to end. Well, not really, Aqua is still alive.”  
  
“You...you knew Xehanort was going to take Terra?” Ventus swallowed the heavy lump in his throat, his anger was slowly boiling inside of him, making it hard for him to stay still.  
  
“Of course I did. I was the one that kept you and Aqua well entertained so Xehanort could have him all for himself. And you morons never caught on to it, you were always looking in the direction we pointed at instead of looking straight ahead. It wasn’t very hard to play you, after all, I see and feel everything you do, like how you just want to punch me so bad right now,” Vanitas couldn’t help the grin that quickly spread over his lips, it only grew bigger when Ventus actually launched at him and pushed him down on the floor.  
  
Ventus was ready to punch Vanitas’ square on the face when his body went stiff and he couldn’t move it. He was trembling trying to make himself move but nothing was happening. He forgot about the bracelets. He hissed quietly in between his teeth and got off of Vanitas with a quiet growl. He was so tired of this, why did he bring him back at all? Vanitas was obviously not worth saving, even after what he saw, he just wasn’t worth it. He was evil. He wasn’t good. He was everything that was wrong and the reason why anything ever went wrong in their lives. He should have left him where he found him.  
  
“He isn’t moving.”  
  
Aqua’s voice made Ventus glance back. He blinked a couple of times, not knowing what was happening. Vanitas was still on the floor, his body just laying there with his eyes looking dull and faded. They looked brighter but in an eerie way. Ventus lightly nudged him with his foot but there was no response at all. He sighed and did it again, this time harder, wondering what the hell was Vanitas planning next but there was no response for a second time.  
  
“I don’t think he’s faking it,” Terra said and walked over to kneel down next to Vanitas. He moved one of his hands in front of Vanitas’ face but the golden eyes remained clouded and dull. “There’s something wrong.”  
  
“Wait, his face,” Ventus kneeled down next to Terra and watched as bruises just appeared around Vanitas’ face. Patches on his skin were just changing to different hues of purple and blue, the colors were crawling across his face, slowly eating it away. There was a large bruise on the side of his face and another one around his eye. Ventus had to gasp in surprise and wince right after when a black substance started to creep out from within Vanitas’ mouth. Was he bleeding?  
  
“What’s going on?” Riku glanced over at Yen Sid but Yen Sid remained silent, just watching what was unfolding in front of him.  
  
None of them knew what was happening.  
  
Ventus rubbed his lips together, suddenly regretting everything he had been thinking earlier. He let his emotions take over, and even though they were justified, he was better than trying to fall for what Vanitas was trying to do. He was better than wishing someone to remain in the darkness. Maybe it was how Vanitas looked hurt that brought back the memories in his heart so heavily, but just remembering those shadows and what they were doing to him, they just felt so real when Vanitas looked hurt. He had never seen him looking like this, even after their multiple battles.  
  
The clock was ticking and nothing was happening. The sound of time was getting louder and louder and yet nothing was happening. It was getting longer and longer and then Vanitas gasped loudly.  
  
Vanitas blinked rapidly, his eyes closing before he took another deep breath. He hissed and quickly rolled over to get on all fours as he coughed loudly and blood splattered all over the floor. He was slowly crawling towards the wall, his body trembling as he leaned against it holding his sides. He was gritting his teeth, and soon enough was biting down on his bottom lip to keep himself from making any noises.  
  
“Are you okay?” Ventus followed behind him, careful to avoid the blood that was slowly dissolving into nothing.  
  
Vanitas said nothing, he was pulling his legs close to his body, both of his arms around his stomach as he swallowed loudly and tilted his head back. The bruises were slowly disappearing, and his skin was back to normal as if nothing ever happened but the memory was still there. It was impossible to deny what they just witnessed.  
  
“Vanitas, what was that?” Ventus leaned in, trying to meet Vanitas’ eyes even if the other kept avoiding him.  
  
“You...where did you pull me out of?” Vanitas finally asked, looking at Ventus with a glare.  
  
“I found you when I went inside my heart. I followed the connection and then I don’t know why but I pulled you back. I know I saw where Sora is, so that means you were with him.”  
  
“Did you ever considered that maybe pulling me back was not the smartest idea?” Vanitas chuckled and then winced when his ribs started to hurt.  
  
“No, why would I?”  
  
“Maybe because where I was, was actually peaceful?”  
  
Ventus went quiet at that, he leaned back with his hands on his knees. He honestly didn’t consider that as an option, after all, Vanitas heart was a wreck. It was a terrible place, but he also didn’t see Vanitas there. He just saw his memories or at least that was his guess, but if so where exactly had Vanitas been? The realization hit Ventus too hard, if Vanitas hadn’t been resting in his own heart, then that meant, he was somewhere else, or maybe inside someone else.  
  
“You were inside Sora’s heart, weren’t you?” Ventus asked his eyes moving along Vanitas’ form and watching as the last bruise on his face vanished.  
  
“It seems like it, and I think your friend isn’t doing too well,” Vanitas winced and tilted his head back against the wall behind him. “And he’s dragging me down with him.”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Riku walked over and stood behind Ventus. He was looking down at Vanitas, with a serious look. He was one that was obviously not about to entertain Vanitas’ games or attitude.  
  
“He...he pulled me in. I don’t know, this never happened before or maybe I was never awake when it did. I felt like myself but inside someone else’s body, and then I took all the pain and he was healed after but it felt like raw instinct. Like I have been doing it for so long now,” Vanitas stared down at his hands, not knowing what was happening at all. He had no explanation of what was happening. He had no idea how this could be even possible. He woke up in a whole different world, and with things happening that he had no idea how they came to be. Everything was just as confusing as the first day Xehanort pulled him out of Ventus. “He used me because he was in danger, and I felt...everything.”  
  
“What exactly are you saying?” Ventus asked. He knew pitying Vanitas wasn’t something the other would probably like, but he just felt bad for him. It was funny how earlier he wanted nothing but to punch him and now, now he wanted to know exactly what was wrong with him. Maybe his empathy for other people was too strong, maybe it was a good thing or maybe it was a terrible flaw.  
  
“It felt like I was dying and maybe next time, it won’t just be the feeling,” Vanitas rubbed his lips together, his eyes shifting around before he finally looked up at Ventus. “I’ll do it. I’ll try to help with whatever this is, but only because as much as I hate you and all of your friends, I don’t feel like dying any time soon, at least not until I become who I once was.”  
  
“We are not uniting Vanitas,” Ventus said with an eye-roll and then let a small smile creep on his face. “Alright, we’ll find Sora, together.”  
  
Ventus offered his hand to Vanitas. He wasn’t really expecting for Vanitas to shake his hand, but when he actually reached out to grip Ventus’ hand, he was more than surprised. Ventus smiled from ear to ear and then blinked curiously when for a fraction of a second, he could see the defensive and hostile look Vanitas usually had disappear. It was weird to see his face looking so peaceful, even if it was just for one second, he reminded him of something that happened before, something that was a foggy memory of a hand touching his face. The words were still so clear in his mind but everything else was hazy.  
  
“Don’t even, I’m only doing this because I have to,” Vanitas pulled his hand back and shrugged with a smirk.  
  
“That still kind of leaves us back on square one though,” Ventus said with a sigh.  
  
“Not necessarily,” Vanitas added and tilted his head against his shoulder. “I didn’t feel this before, at least not until that little episode but it feels as if there’s a second string pulling on me, and it’s telling me in what direction to go.”  
  
“A second string?”  
  
“You’ll be the first one, Ventus. Please, think, it’s not that hard.”  
  
“Don’t be rude,” Ventus mumbled.  
  
“Point is, that it’s leading me somewhere and considering the fact I don’t want to die, I’m going to follow it,” Vanitas shrugged and turn around to head towards the door but Ventus quickly got in front of him to keep him from walking out.  
  
“Wait, where are you going?”  
  
“To find where this is going to lead me, I just said it.”  
  
“Yeah! But, just like that?”  
  
“I mean, sorry if you guys need to have a friendship conference before you do something but I’m used to just taking action when I feel like it.”  
  
“I don’t believe is wise to leave in a rush, at least not right now,” Yen Sid said and looked in between Ventus and Vanitas. “I left to see the king not just for this bracelet in case we needed it, but because the worlds are in danger again. Heartless and nobodies have been left with no masters to follow, and now more than ever are a real threat to the worlds. They are attacking with no purpose and follow only their instincts and that is to consume and create chaos.”  
  
“Why now?” Aqua asked with a sigh.  
  
“I am not certain, but as you all know, it is the duty of keyblade wielders to protect and secure the worlds. I think it would be best if we can start as soon as possible. I believe small teams is our best approach in this situation, it would allow us to cover more ground and hopefully deal with the enemy swiftly. This means, that whatever world Ventus and Vanitas chose to go, in their pursue of Sora, they’ll also have to take care of the heartless and nobodies as well.”  
  
“That’ll be no problem!” Ventus answered with a smile. Vanitas, on the other hand, remained silent, not looking too thrilled over the idea of having to do someone’s dirty work.  
  
“Chip and Dale also wanted me to tell you that your gummi phones have been updated with something very special, they hope it would help us locate Sora,” Yen Sid smiled and nodded before waiting for the keyblade wielders to get their phones out.  
  
Ventus got his phone out of his back pocket and noticed the screen was different, it looked nicer and all the icons were now smaller and were shoved on the bottom of his screen, what he didn’t expect to see though, was a familiar face poking out from the side with a smile. He gasped in surprise, a huge grin on his face. “Sora!”  
  
Sora stepped through the side of the screen, his whole form taking over the screen as he waved at Ventus with a smile. “Hi!”  
  
By now everyone was crowded around Ventus’ phone, watching the tiny Sora on the screen as he waved at everyone.  
  
“How?” Riku asked and looked over at Yen Sid.  
  
“Not too long ago, the king created a data Sora for a special purpose and mission. Data-Sora came to be thanks to Jiminy’s journal. In that journal, he wrote all of Sora’s adventures and who Sora was, just like he did when Sora acquired the Gummi phone. Data-Sora got an update and that is why he now looks as the Sora you all know, he also has all the memories of the Sora we lost thanks to Jiminy’s journal. The king and everyone else have been looking for Sora, just like all of us, but they were also working extremely hard to make this happen as well, they believe it can be a big help, after all, who better to find Sora than Sora himself,” Yen Sid chuckled quietly with a smile still on his face.  
  
“Yeah! Don’t worry guys, I’ll help find Sora too...eh, I guess more like I’ll help to find myself?” Data-Sora tilted his head in confusion and just giggled.  
  
“Glad to have you on board,” Riku smiled and turned on his own phone just to see the same Sora sitting down on the bottom of the screen with a grin on his face.  
  
“Data-Sora will collect your findings and data as you go through the worlds and would keep you updated on each other’s whereabouts,” Yen Sid continued. “And please, do remember he likes company.”  
  
Ventus couldn’t stop smiling. Data-Sora was now sitting on top of the icons on his screen, smiling at him with confidence. It was uplifting to see this, it ignited a new fire in him to try harder. Even if bringing Vanitas back wasn’t the result he expected to achieve, there was still a way to bring Sora back. It was a new journey he needed to push through and he was not going to be alone.  
  
Ventus glanced back, noticing that Vanitas was already by the door waiting for him. He turned around and walked over to stand in front of Vanitas, the new fire in his heart reflecting in his confident eyes. “Ready?”  
  
“Always.”  
  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg finally I can like, jump into the whole Vanitas and Ventus part.


End file.
